Figures reveal rise in number of fit-for-discharge patients at Calderdale Royal Hospital

Fit-for-discharge patients – sometimes known as bed blockers – are patients who have been declared fit enough to be discharged from hospital by doctors but cannot leave the hospital because there is no suitable nursing accommodation or care available for them in the community.

A report in September last year said more than 13,000 hospital beds across the country, or one in seven, were filled with patients declared fit for discharge by doctors.

The problem is thought to cost the NHS about £5.2million each day, since overnight stays are around £400.

Following a Freedom of Information request by the Halifax Courier, it can be revealed that the number of fit-for-discharge patients at Calderdale Royal Hospital has risen from 1,030 in 2020 to 1,144 in 2021 and 1,286 in 2022.

Rachel Power, Chief Executive of the Patients Association, said: "The announcement of 2,500 extra care home beds by the Health Secretary in January is great but there are ten times that number of patients who are medically fit to be discharged.

"Many of them would prefer to go home but can’t because there aren’t the care services able to offer them reablement and support.

"But for this support to be available, there needs to be investment in social care for hospitals to be able to discharge patients safely into the community, freeing up space to treat more patients in hospital."

Halifax MP Holly Lynch said: "The rise in the number of fit for discharge patients over the last three years at Calderdale Royal Hospital is symptomatic of the Government’s mishandling of our NHS. We're seeing this right across the country.

"Care in the community has collapsed, leading to patients staying in hospital for longer rather than receiving the rehabilitation and support they need at home, or in other care settings.

"Labour's plans to modernise the NHS are bold and will put workforce planning and patient care at the core.

"We will create a National Care Service, which would begin to mend the problems in our social care sector, so we don't see the bottlenecks preventing patients from being moved into the right setting for them."Gemma Berriman, Director of Operations at Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust (CHFT), said: "To keep people safe, sometimes patients may need to stay with us for longer periods of time, even though they are well enough to go home. This could be because we need to arrange care at home, or further support from other services."